Disability for Multiple Sclerosis. Fatigue, relapses, and limits that change day to day.

How Social Security evaluates multiple sclerosis

Social Security’s neurological listings include multiple sclerosis. In general terms, the listing is met when MS causes extreme difficulty using two limbs, such as standing up from a seat, balancing while standing or walking, or using the arms and hands. It can also be met with a marked limitation in physical functioning together with a marked limitation in one area of mental functioning, such as concentrating or keeping pace.

When no listing is met

Most claims are decided on residual functional capacity: what you can still do in a work setting despite your symptoms. Social Security then asks whether any jobs fit those limits. For MS, fatigue, weakness, balance, vision changes, bladder urgency, and slowed thinking all count, and they are considered together.

Evidence that matters

• MRI reports and the neurologist’s findings over time.
• Records of relapses, including steroid treatment and how long recovery took.
• Neuropsychological testing if memory or processing speed is affected.
• Notes documenting fatigue and how it limits a full day of activity.
• Physical therapy and gait or balance assessments.

Ask your doctor to complete the multiple sclerosis form in our free doctor forms. It records your limits in the terms Social Security uses.

Why these claims are denied

• Records from stable periods only, with relapses undocumented.
• Fatigue reported to the doctor but not written into the chart.
• Cognitive symptoms never tested.
• An examiner assuming that walking into an appointment means you can work a full day.

Heat and Arizona

Many people with MS find that heat makes symptoms worse. If Arizona summers limit when you can leave the house or how long you can be active, tell your neurologist so it is recorded. It bears on whether you could keep a regular work schedule.

If you are 50 or older

Under Social Security’s grid rules, a person limited to sedentary work at 50, or light work at 55, may be found disabled depending on education and past work.

Next steps

If you have been denied, you have 60 days to appeal. See what to do after a denial in Arizona, SSDI in Arizona, and SSI in Arizona. There is no fee unless benefits are awarded.

J Disability Law Firm, PLLC · Joseph J. Duerst, Attorney · 18444 N. 25th Ave, Suite 420, Phoenix, AZ 85023 · (602) 607-0000. This page is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Past results do not predict the outcome of your case.